Edibles - '09 - Part 2

Coming from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/968679/

So how are the edibles coming? I have not planted my veggies yet - hopefully this week. I have a bunch of baby peaches on the tree.

I did my potatoes in the garbage can yesterday... hope I wasn't too late doing those

We are in a frost warning again for tonight! Good thing much is not planted.

hope i beat the tree rats to these this year

Yum---peaches! Not another frost warning! Phooey---all of my veggie garden is planted except for the marigolds around the edge---keeps the bugs away---and I have to put up poles for the cukes to climb on---whenever they start climbing.

I haven't gotten around to till my garden....So I still have zucs and tomatoes inside....

Here's the zuc blossoming, too funny it's still in 1/2 a milk jug...

Well, I'm so glad I got a lot of my veggies in yesterday, just in time to cover them tonight with a freeze predicted! I put in 5 tomatoes, 6 peppers, 9 cukes, another 3 rows of onions, and sowed some BES vine and some larkspur. I won't bother covering my broccoli or onions, but the rest will have to get covered, along with the coleus I set out yesterday and the red vinca and some other annuals.

Has anyone tried the Tumbling Tommy cherry tomatoes that grow in a basket? I saw them last year and wanted some, but they seemed way too pricey. This year, I gave in and bought 2 baskets - one for me and one for my DS. I'm wondering how long they last and whether they get pot-bound pretty soon???

We got ours done yesterday and today. I have a bag of onions to plant and some shallots, if I can find them. I think I need more eggplants and perhaps more broccoli and more cukes. Though I am starting some more now along with a few other seeds. Might be too late, but we have a late fall.

Poor Donniebrook, I can't believe that there is another frost warning up in NH and Vt, but all the old timers say not to plant anything tender until the end of May, even on Nantucket.

I trimmed a lot of branches off the trees that surround the veggie patch to give it more sun. Not an ideal spot, plus it is on a slope. Pain. I tried to find my inner rice paddy farmer and sort of try to terrace the slope. It looks like raised beds with out sides and it is kind of lame. But if we get plenty to put up and to eat this summer, I don't care what it looks like as long as it isn't weedy. We put mulch down over weed barrier mats for the paths as they are lower than the beds and will get muddy. Plus we had a couple of extra yards left over, so I was happy to get DH to move it back there to use. I did all the raking and bed making so I did do some grunt work too.

I cut out the bottoms out of plastic pots to put around all the brassica as last year we had major issues with cut worm. I hope it helps. I think we need to spray with Neem oil, regardless.

Looks like flowerjen may have the first squash this year. Patti

Hi Patti. Yeah......I jumped the gun, but thought I was safe since it is Memorial Day weekend, and when we were here just on weekends, that was always when my garden went in. We're up high on a hilltop here, so Hank thinks we may be ok. Everything is covered anyway, so hopefully I won't be replanting!

I'll be interested to know if your bottomless pots work out with the cut worms. Ugh. No fun! Good luck - it sounds like a good idea.

I dont want a pitty me but I am more north and west of Louise and we are in the harder hit zone. And Celeste - good grief she is up and in a WARNING also.

5th year into having a garden - I almost want to Quit - almost.

True, Sherrie........but if I know Celeste - she hasn't planted yet.....she is too wise to jump the gun like we did. LOL

I pity all who still will get a frost this late.

When we were at a nursery in Vt last Tuesday an old timer who has a big dairy farm was saying not to plant the corn until the linden leaves were bigger than a mouse's ear. Who measures mice ears except Walt? He said his linden leaves were not big enough yet. Must have known about the frost warning. Patti

That's a good one, Patti! I must educate myself in two respects before this can work for me (next spring, I hope!) First, I must learn to ID a linden leaf, and then I must pull a mouse from one of the traps DH sets and measure his ears. eeeewwww.

Good project, for you to do, not me. Let us know so I don't plant me corn to quick. Actually there is not a chance of us planting corn as we tried that once and it took up most of the garden and wasn't nearly as good as the farm which is a mile at most down the road. I grew some nice worms that year. Patti

I read that if mice eat corn, their ears (the mice, that is) grow.

Victor, And for telling stories, you should take a gander at you growing nose. Patti

LOL!!

Patti - I came to the exact same conclusion on corn as you did. We have a cornfield that sells the best corn I've ever tasted - bar none! So why take up my space for inferior corn?! Can't do it! BTW - don't wait for me to be telling you when to plant the corn, either!

Finally managed to get my veggie garden planted on time for a change. Tomatoes have been in for a couple of weeks and I just harvested our first lettuce. I could get used to this. [g]

Just weird weather. Maybe I'll be on time next year.

Finally decided to put in some tender veggies this morning ... and as everyone has said here, it's supposed to get cold here tonight *but no frost* according to the weatherman.

I remembered buying these plastic cloches and never using them last year ... this pix is from them ... and put on top of the eggplants, who like it warm ...

daisygrrl, those look way cool and I am sure with the vent hole on top they will be excellent. I love Rhinebeck, nice town, with great food. Our son use to work at a wine store across from the Inn when he was going to CIA in Hyde Park.

lisabeth, Congrats on the rabbit food. I wish we had gotten our lettuce in earlier, but it will grow fast, I hope. DH did a big perimeter check on the deer fence to make sure that our evil resident bunnies had not made any new holes in it to attack the veggies or my lilies. They had. ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Out to plant more lilies like the fool I am. Patti

Well - the potatoes are doing well - all of them! I have about a dozen plastic pails and pots planted with potatoes as well as an entire 4' x 8' raised bed. I hope the neighbors like various colors of potatoes. . . The strawberries are coloring up, gooseberries are set as well as apricots, peaches and the medlar is starting to bloom and set. Asian pear tree is loaded with fruit - I need to thin it out and brace one of the limbs. The black currant is set as are the blueberries. The elderberries are just starting to flower and the Aronia has a few berries set. (It must need a polinator even though I didn't see that in the literature.) I think there might be grapes this year! I've let the asparagus go to ferns already and the Jeruselum Artichokes are coming up including the red one from Well Sweep. Garlic is extra strong this year - though a more managable amount of it and the perennial herbs are going strong. The service berry is still little more than a twig and considering a compost pile is feeding it - I don't understand it's problem. The new raspberries are settling in and neither they nor the blackberries have started to bloom yet. The rhubarb is blooming and getting ready to drop seed (which I need to catch as there is only so much room for rhubarb!) and the horseradish is blooming. Ostrich Ferns are growing tall and I need to start harvesting fiddle heads from them - next year.

I was lucky at Farmer's Market and picked up six packs of Amaranth - Hopi Red Dye and Elephant Head and put them in with the fading daffodils and poppies for summer interest - and greens and maybe even Amaranth "grain". The chives are pretty and the flowers make a spicy addition to a green salad as does the lamb's quarters (but not spicy). I have a ton of seeds to get in the ground yet. Sigh. So many seeds, so little time.

Your garden sounds lovely, Yankee---all those berries! I tried blackberries, but they froze out ---we do have some black raspberries, & some red---just enough for a treat---a few strawberries that the birds get. I agree with the corn planting---my DH used to put in 100 hills every year---the raccoons loved it, & the corn from the farm in the next town tasted better!

Then go get some of the next door corn this year, dry the seeds and plant them next year. Well at least I think I would try?

Anyone have 2 rhubarb plants that they are willing to send me? My neighbor is looking for some and can't find any local.

jeez i just saw them at a nursery i went to today - btw i think only one is needed unless they are going in business. they get huge - we have two and never come close to using what they put out

Same here at a nusery "again" today and I think I saw some. They were huge.

Wonder why the nurseries down here don't have them???

Maybe the time has gone by in warmer zone?

I forgot to say I used Wall of Waters to get my tomatoes out early. They work great too. Daisy your cloches are really cute looking though.

BBrook....I've had my share of critter problems. Two years of groundhogs, and dare I say none so far this year. [knock on wood] We saw rabbits last year, but I could never see any plants they were eating. We have clover in the lawn and I think that was
what they were eating. Red lily leaf beetle is another story, they ate my Casa Blanca lilies so bad that I just ripped them all out last year. I had to laugh when I saw a whole patch of them come back up this year. I guess I must have missed some side bulbs or something. So far the beetles have not been so bad.

Yankee Cat....I always wanted to grow more fruit. I don't have a large enough area of enough sun to do both veggies and fruits. I haven't tried potatoes yet. Are they hard?

I'm not sure if potatoes are hard to grow. This is my first attempt - outside of the compost pile that is. So far they are sprouting like crazy.

I only did potatoes once and it was very easy - I have 4 pots going now.

sorry Jen doesn't look like i have any rhubarb to spare... only 3 of the little babies made it

Louise I did tumbling toms last year... they did really well.. but I am not sure if it was the crazy weather last year or my care ... they had tough skins on them for me... I wasn't pleased ... but they grew nicely and the chipmunks loved to crawl around and steal em... looked like the plants were alive

July 6th last year

I have rhubarb seeds coming out of my ears - if anyone wants some! I don't know what the cultivar is but the stems don't turn very red at all.

Cultivated the garden yesterday before the rain, & noticed an empty row---no lettuce germinated---first time ever---don't know if the birds ate the seed, or the seed wasn't viable---replanted, & hoping for the best.

Memory - your garden sounds wonderful! Mmmmmmmmm. I'm sure you'll enjoy the rewards of your labor!

Allison - thanks for the info on your tumbling toms. I repotted the basket for my son and took it down to his house yesterday. He loved it. It is already loaded with flowers and one tomato was ripe. I didn't think to ask him if the skin was tough. I thought his was going to be potbound too soon. Mine is hanging out in the rain right now. It looks quite healthy.

Peas are up 8-10 inches and starting to climb the trellis. So far, so good - never had much luck with peas before. Broccoli and cabbage are coming along - they've been in for a couple weeks. Just put tomatoes in this past week, and put in the peppers and eggplants Monday (day of the frost advisory!). Planted pole beans, bush beans, beets, and swiss chard yesterday. Ran out of garden room. :-( Expansion planned. :-)

I will probably plant some lettuces and spinach in big pots for summer salads, and then after the cool season crops come out, another round of beans, and then a late-summer planting of more cool season crops: kolhrabi, mache, arugula, radicchio, more lettuce and spinach, and also try some carrots and parsnips to over-winter.

The blueberries, cranberries, aronia, beach plum, heartnut, grapes, and strawberries I put in this year are all leafing out and doing well.

I've never had any luck with peas. But I keep trying.

I got peas this year they are up about 2-3 inches as of yesterday. I got chicken wire fence for them to reach out their tendrils.

Didn't plant peas this year----they take a lot of room, & my garden is jammed now.